Department for Education

Vocational Education

Mr Toby Perkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many FE institutions in England offer (a) level 2 and (b) level 3 vocational courses in (i) horticultural, (ii) construction, (iii) IT and (iv) engineering related subjects in 2022 compared with 2010.

Robert Halfon: The Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) course directory contains information on courses offered by learning providers who are contracted with the ESFA.The course directory is a public record dating back to 2014, but does not date back to 2010 as requested.The course directory can be accessed at: https://www.data.gov.uk/dataset/0bfbec0c-6d9a-4f52-97bb-b680bbfcfa44/esfa-course-directory.

Primary Education: Assessments

Rebecca Long Bailey: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of the final report of the Independent Commission on Assessment in Primary Education; and what plans the Government has to implement that report's recommendations.

Nick Gibb: Primary assessments play a crucial role in supporting pupils to grasp the basics of reading, writing and mathematics and to prepare them for secondary school. They allow parents and schools to understand pupils’ achievements in relation to the age-related attainment expectations outlined in the National Curriculum.In 2017, the Department carried out a consultation into primary assessment in England, with the aim of creating a settled policy in this area. The consultation received over 4,000 responses from a diverse range of backgrounds and specialisms, providing a broad and informed range of views. The Department has reached the end of the programme of reform to the current primary assessment system that followed. The Department has no current plans to undertake further major reform.The Department remains committed to producing and publishing school-level accountability measures using full-cohort assessment data, which provide important information to support parents when choosing schools. The Department keeps all school performance measures under review, and welcomes feedback on how it can be refined and improved.As primary school tests and assessments returned in 2021/22 for the first time since 2019, without any adaptations, the results were not published in Key Stage 2 performance tables. The usual suite of Key Stage 2 accountability measures has been produced at school level and shared securely with primary schools, academy trusts, Local Authorities and Ofsted to inform school improvement, inspection and to help identify schools most in need of support. This is a transitional arrangement for the first year in which primary assessments returned. The Department intends to publish Key Stage 2 assessment data on the performance measures website again for 2022/23.

Ministry of Justice

Community Orders

Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the number of hours of unpaid work completed at home as part of community sentences in each year for which data is available.

Damian Hinds: Independent working projects enabled eligible people on probation to complete some of their hours from home. They were introduced as a temporary delivery method in response to COVID-19 restrictions and enabled us to maximise delivery as the Probation Service recovers from the impact of the pandemic. Group unpaid work placements were still used whenever possible under COVID-19 restrictions.Probation regions have been required to phase out their use from September 2022.In 2020 – 2021 a total of 59,254 hours of Unpaid Work involving independent working projects were delivered across England and Wales.In 2021 – 2022 a total of 275,044 hours of Unpaid Work involving independent working projects were delivered across England and Wales.In 2022-23, for the period for which data is available, 136,356 hours of Unpaid work involving independent working projects were delivered across England and Wales.This data was sourced from the Probation Case Management System, nDelius. While reasonable efforts have been taken to ensure the accuracy of this data, the inaccuracy inherent in any large-scale administrative data source means data should not be assumed to be accurate to the last unit presented.

Cabinet Office

Cammell Laird: Industrial Disputes

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will make available all documents related interactions between Vera Baird and stakeholders representing those involved in the Cammell Laird industrial dispute of 1984.

Jeremy Quin: I refer the Honourable Member to the answer given to PQ 59415 on 20 October by the then Minister for the Cabinet Office, my Right Honourable friend, the member for Croydon South.